The Dark Knight

[Myxo]

I'm pretty sure anyone who hated this movie fails at life.

[SiliasRuby]

Yeah, and furthermore anyone who hates walle doesn't have a soul.....j/k.....well, half joking.

[brockly]

yeah anyone who loved you don't mess with the zohan is too jew.

[MacGuffin]

'Dark Knight' sets weekend record with $155.34M

LOS ANGELES (AP) Batman has sent Spidey packing as king of Hollywood's box office superheroes.

"The Dark Knight" took in a record $155.34 million in its first weekend, said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released the "Batman Begins" sequel.

That topped Hollywood's previous best of $151.1 million, set by "Spider-Man 3" in May 2007.

"We knew it would be big, but we never expected to dominate the marketplace like we did," Fellman said. The movie should shoot past the $200 million mark by the end of the week, he said.

Factoring in higher admission prices, however, "Spider-Man 3" may have sold slightly more tickets than "The Dark Knight."

At 2007's average price of $6.88, "Spider-Man 3" sold 21.96 million tickets over opening weekend. Box office tracker Media By Numbers estimates today's average movie prices at $7.08, which means "The Dark Knight" would have sold 21.94 million tickets.

The movie's release was preceded by months of buzz and speculation over the performance of the late Heath Ledger as the Joker, Batman's nemesis. Ledger, who died in January from an accidental prescription-drug overdose, played the Joker as a demonic presence, his performance prompting predictions that the role might earn him a posthumous Academy Award nomination.

"The Dark Knight," which cost $185 million to make, also broke the "Spider-Man 3" record for best debut in IMAX large-screen theaters with $6.2 million. "Spider-Man 3" opened with $4.7 million in IMAX cinemas.

On opening day Friday, "The Dark Knight" also took in more money than previously counted, Fellman said. The film pulled in a record $67.85 million, up nearly $1.5 million from the studio's estimates a day earlier.

The previous opening-day record also had been held by "Spider-Man 3" with $59.8 million.

[Pozer]

The score makes this film.  The sounds effects (screeeeeech, TONE) and silence do just as much to create a mood as the music.

very true. 

loved it too.  could've done w/out Batman talking so much and Maggie Gyll though.  i'm convinced now that Heath would've been better than Brando.

i'm also now convinced Nolan won't do a third.  he's too smart to fall into traps and is ready to continue his progressing brilliance in new genres.     

[MacGuffin]

Anyone who hated this movie prays at the alter of Schumacher.

[Pozer]

Anyone who hated this movie prays at the alter of Schumacher.

very true.

Batman Forever is on cable right now.  opening dialogue..

Alfred: Can I persuade you to take a sandwich, sir?
Batman: I'll get drive-thru.

haha

[matt35mm]

(shrug)

I liked it okay.

I don't think it was bad at all.  I admire a lot of what it aspired to do, some of which it did and some of which it didn't (for me).  So I guess hit-and-miss is what I'd say.

I still enjoyed myself and would even like to see it in IMAX in a few weeks maybe.

[brockly]

Batman Forever is on cable right now.  opening dialogue..

Alfred: Can I persuade you to take a sandwich, sir?
Batman: I'll get drive-thru.

haha

hah. yeh batman and robin's opening dialogue was way wittier..

Robin: I want a car, chicks dig the car.
Batman: This is why Superman works alone.

[samsong]

http://www.thehousenextdooronline.com/2008/07/trickster-heaven-two-faced-hell-dark.html

blows things out of proportion but offers an interesting perspective, despite it being steeped in smug pretentiousness. (he's a featured contributor on everyone's favorite online pop culture elitist website slant magazine)

so like everyone else, i loved this movie.  SPOILERS (sort of) HEREIN:  the 180 on the motorcycle might be the single most awesome moment in the history of cinema/mankind, one that turns everyone in the audience into a bro for at least three seconds.  chris nolan's post 9/11 evocations might be lacking in thematic clarity--i certainly didn't read it as a bush administration apologia--but on an emotional level i found it be incredibly poignant.  this is probably the most elegiac summer blockbuster ever made and it's exciting to see a film that, in my opinion, accomplishes greatness both as entertainment and art be number one at the box office to the degree that it is.

i hope gary oldman doesn't go completely unappreciated.  he deserves individual recognition for being especially great instead of being obscured to anonymity ("great performances across the board"), although that isn't so bad given how strong the ensemble is in this film.  eric roberts?!  i have to say maggie ghyllenhaal isn't quite the step up that she was supposed to be--my feeling, as it was in the first film, is that rachel is a weak character and the actresses can't be held accountable for how flat she is in the films.  what more is there to say about ledger, except that if i see a better performance this year, i will eat my own butt.

[tpfkabi]

(shrug)

I liked it okay.

I don't think it was bad at all.  I admire a lot of what it aspired to do, some of which it did and some of which it didn't (for me).  So I guess hit-and-miss is what I'd say.

i feel about the same.

except for the hospital/exit scene (which will probably be the greatest scenes/sequence of the year), nothing really stands out for me.

i worship not the schumacher, but the burton as far as batman goes.

i don't think i'm too crazy about Bale's Batman voice either.

[Stefen]

How the fuck did this get a PG-13? It's an R if I've ever seen one.

[Ghostboy]

This is the only movie so far this year I've seen twice. Really outstanding.

They can't top this, probably, but if Nolan makes a go at it, I'd love to see him actually take more cues from The Dark Knight Returns (which they could actually use as a title, come to think of it). Set it five or so years after this one. Batman's disappeared, no one's seen him since the whole Joker / Two Face thing. I don't know what would be a good enough threat to bring him out of retirement, but if they could find a hook, it'd be pretty cool. Get the whole horse riding through Gotham climax.

[Gold Trumpet]

i don't think i'm too crazy about Bale's Batman voice either.

Oh my god, thank you. Now I don't have to say that in my review. When Bale talks in Batman voice he is either talking ridiculously gruff or speaking like he is on the toilet and can't get that big piece of shit out. It's ridiculously embarassing seeing him always trying to sound that tough/constipated.

When Keaton was Batman he just added a darker tone to his voice. He spoke with calm and confidence and never tried to intimdiate with his voice. The suit and look already did it. It also made me feeling like Keaton was acting within the suit when Bale is just badly posturing.

[john]

I had the same problems with Bale's Batman voice when I initially saw Begins, as well.

It seemed incredulous, though, that someone like Bale - who has always been a tremendously gifted, and astute, actor when it comes to inflection and intonation - could fuck up something so seemingly simple. Shit, my girlfriend didn't even know Bale was English until the MTV Movie Awards.

It makes sense to me, though, that it's not Bale's mistake - that it's intentional. Wayne's Batman IS posturing. He's still figuring out his persona, and it's a bit clumsy.

I haven't bothered listening to any commentary tracks, or reading any interviews, to see if there's any truth to this. There might not be. But it seems like he's getting better at it. "He", being Bruce Wayne, rather than Christian Bale. More comfortable inhabiting the persona of Batman.